Gemini
by Stadlen
Summary: What if there were two Shepards? Twins, both heroes of the alliance, assigned to the SSV Normandy. How is the galaxy changed by its two saviors? MShepxTali FShepxGarrus future lemons.


As Captain Vrunum Shepherd stared out the window of Arcturus station into the blackness of space with his twin sister Ikreaba Shepherd at his side. The pair wondered what was out there. They knew humans weren't alone in the universe, a lesson which had been learned the hard way in 2157 during the First Contact War with the Turians. They wondered in a larger sense. They wondered what they would face, what the next inevitable threat would be.

1 Month later

Vrunum put on his dress uniform and made sure his M-5 Phalanx in its holster and the bracers on his forearms were well hidden. He wasn't expecting trouble, but he was always prepared. He straightened his Star of Terra on his uniform and walked toward the door.

In the next room over Ikreaba placed the much more powerful but much less accurate M-7 Carnifex in a holster strapped to her thigh under the skirt of her dress uniform. Like Vrunum, she hoped not to need it but was prepared to if necessary. She, like her brother, made sure everything was straight then walked out the door turning to face him. Each inspected the other's uniform then silently nodded in approval, then they set out toward the docking bay of the ship to which they had been assigned, the SSV Normandy.

It wasn't a surprise that the two had been assigned to the same ship, their teamwork was legendary. Before they had even enlisted in the Alliance military, they held off a group of batarian slavers who attacked their home colony of Mindoir until Alliance forces landed and forced the batarians to retreat saving the majority of the colony. Sadly, their parents were lost in the defense. Later the pair found themselves under attack again then while on shore leave at Elysium during the Skyllian Blitz. Once more the pair rallied the colonists and held off the ground forces till reinforcements arrived. After that ordeal, the Twins insisted they be included in the retaliatory attack on Torfan where the pair led the charge single-handedly capturing over 100 batarian slavers without firing a single shot or losing a single man using their fearsome reputation and clever deception earning the siblings Stars of Terra.

The two Shepherds were greeted at the docking bay by Admiral Anderson, captain of the Normandy. Vrunum was set to be the ship's Executive Officer and Ikreaba the marine commander. The Admiral saluted the pair, and they returned the salute before boarding the frigate.

A few weeks on the Normandy passed without incident. They ran various tests of the Normandy's systems with particular focus on the Tantalus drive core and the internal emission sinks, the latter being tested in increasing time increments. Then the time came to put it all together.

The Council had sent a turian SPECTRE named Nihlus Kryik to oversee the test. The turian put the crew on edge. None of them believed that the Council would send a SPECTRE just to see how well the stealth systems worked, any technician could do that, a SPECTRE meant more, it meant that trouble was to be expected.

On the surface, the mission was supposed to be a shakedown run, but Ikreaba knew better. Nihlus spent almost no time down in engineering to actually check on the stealth systems or drive core. Instead, she found that he spent most of his time watching her or Vrunum. More than once she considered confronting the turian but thought better of it. She didn't have anything to hide but how the turian watched her made her uncomfortable. She knew she had a beautiful body, so she was used to men of various species starring at her but this was different, he was observing her like a panther would stalk its prey. She wasn't threatened, just unnerved.

Vrunum had also noticed the turian's observation but felt altogether different about it. He noticed that he wasn't just watching them, he was only watching them. Something was afoot, and it involved both Shepherds. The captain heard the drive core warming up from below his feet, so he decided to go to the bow where he found Ikreaba standing. When he walked up beside her, she grasped his hand for comfort then glanced over at Nihlus. The meaning was clear to her twin, she had noticed the SPECTRE too, and she didn't trust him. If he was honest with himself, Vrunum had to agree.

The mass relay loomed large as the Normandy began its approach Joker ran through all the checks then space seemed to stretch as the Normandy approached the speed of light and the Normandy was enveloped in the relay's harsh blue light. A few seconds later the blue disappeared, and the stars returned to normal.

"Thrusters… check. Navigation… check. Internal emissions sink engaged. All systems online. Drift just under 1500 K." the pilot said. 'What was his name?' Vrunum thought 'Jester? Something like that.'

"1500 is good, the admiral will be pleased." Nihlus complimented as he walked away

"I hate that guy." The pilot said. 'Joker. That was his name.' Vrunum remembered

"Nihlus gives you a compliment, so you hate him?" a marine asked

"You remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom, that's good. I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead. That's incredible." Joker explained

Anderson's voice came over the intercom. "Joker, status report."

"Stealth systems engaged, all systems green." The flight lieutenant replied

"Good, tell the Shepherds to report to the comm room for a briefing," Anderson ordered

"On our way," Vrunum replied over his suit radio

When the pair reached the comm room the found not Anderson, but Nihlus. "I was hoping you two would get here first, I was wondering about the colony we are going to, Eden Prime, I hear it is a paradise."

"Wouldn't know, we've never been there," Ikreaba answered

"I understand it is seen as a symbol that earth can establish itself in the galaxy and defend itself. But how safe is it really?" Nihlus asked. At this, the twins' hands fell to the grips of their pistols

"Is that a threat?" They asked simultaneously

"The galaxy can be a dangerous place, is humanity ready for this. They grasped their guns ready to draw when they heard the door open, and Anderson call out "Stand down! What the hell are you two doing?" causing them to snap to attention

"My fault Admiral, I made some poorly worded statements that they interpreted as threats to either the Alliance or the mission," Nihlus explained

"Fine. At ease you two. I think it's time they know what this is all about." The Admiral responded. "This isn't just a shakedown run."

"Really? You mean the Council didn't send one of their best operatives to do a technician's job?" Vrunum replied sarcastically

"By the fact that he has been watching us constantly am I safe in assuming that he is here assessing us for SPECTRE candidacy or is he just a weird stalker?" Ikreaba asked

Nihlus looked completely shocked and asked, "You noticed me watching you?"

"You don't survive as long as we have without learning to recognize when you are being observed, especially if the person doing the watching is trying to hide it," Vrunum explained

"And when you look like I do," Ikreaba paused and gestured toward herself, "you learn to recognize what people who are "admiring" you look like and when someone is analyzing you."

"These two don't have counter-surveillance training?" Nihlus asked incredulously

"None, even I didn't know they were that good." Anderson answered "Well, you guessed it, Nihlus is here analyzing your viability as SPECTREs.

A group of scientists on Eden Prime has found a prothean beacon, but they don't have the equipment to analyze it."

Nihlus continued where Anderson left off. "Your mission is to retrieve the beacon and secure it for transport to the Citadel for analysis."

Anderson started to speak but was cut off by Joker over the intercom who said "Message coming in from Eden Prime, you need to see this sir, immediately. Patching it through to the display." A sequence of pure chaos ensued on the vid screen which ended abruptly in static. "All comm traffic cuts off after that."

"Reverse and hold at 38.5," Anderson ordered on the screen was a giant, squid-like thing surrounded by red lightning.

"What the hell is that thing?" Ikreaba wondered

"This mission just got a lot more complicated Vrunum stated

"Both of you suit up. Ikreaba, choose the two best to accompany you." Anderson ordered

"Two, Sir? Standard squad size is three." Ikreaba questioned

"Judging by that thing, this mission will be anything but standard."

Five minutes later Ikreaba and Vrunum along with Kaidan Alenko and Richard Jenkins met up down in the cargo bay and started suiting up. Ikreaba grabbed her M-7 Carnifex, M-76 revenant

. Vrunum grabbed his standard issue Storm I, along with his M5 Phalanx, M7 Lancer, and Widow Sniper rifle. Both got into their N7 advanced armor, while it looked like standard N7 armor the advanced model blocked 10 times more damage and had top-of-the-line personal shields 10 times stronger than standard N7 armor.

A few minutes later Anderson and Nihlus came down to the cargo bay, and the bay door opened. "Nihlus will be dropping in ahead of you to scout the area You will be deployed at a separate drop point and make your way to the dig site, you will retrieve the beacon and then rendezvous at the spaceport marked on your Omni-tool map." Anderson instructed

"Approaching drop point alpha," Joker announced over the PA as the Normandy came to a hovering stop then Nihlus jumped out, and the Normandy started forward.

"Good luck you three. Vrunum, you're lead on this one, this is your time to shine, Do humanity proud." Anderson said as the Normandy came to a hover again

"Are we sure we can trust Nihlus sir?" Vrunum asked

"Yes, he's on our side. He wants you two in the SPECTREs, and he wants that beacon for the Citadel." Anderson answered

"Then we have his back, Sir," Ikreaba stated

"Good luck and Godspeed," Anderson said as the group jumped off the Normandy's ramp onto the planet surface

"Helmets on, I don't want to be easy prey for snipers," Vrunum ordered falling into command mode. Once everyone had their helmets on, they started making their way toward the nav point. They came to an area where the path took a sharp right next to a cliff. Vrunum motioned for them all to get against the wall. He pied the corner then when he saw that it was clear he motioned for Ikreaba to move up and take cover behind a rock a few feet away which she did. When she was in place, she grabbed her sniper rifle and watched the path through the scope. When she was set Vrunum motioned for Jenkins to move next.

The Marine moved to take cover behind a waist-high pile of rocks, but before he got half way there, Ikreaba saw a glint of silver metal pass through her scope. She took a moment to identify the target as some kind of military drone. It looked almost Geth. She took aim and started to pull the trigger a moment too late. The drone and a second which she hadn't seen opened fire. A bright blue flash enveloped Jenkins as his shields failed then the first drone exploded in a ball of fire as Ikreaba pulled the trigger. Both Ikreaba and Vrunum quickly took aim at the second. As soon as her scope was on the second she fired, but the drone moved at the last second, and the shot missed. A millisecond later Vrunum opened fire on the drone with his assault rifle destroying it instantly.

Making sure the coast was clear Ikreaba ran over to Jenkins and checked his pulse. He had none. The drone had torn through his shields and armor like it wasn't even there. She looked to Vrunum and shook her head.

"What was that thing?" Kaidan asked

"It looked geth, but they never leave the Perseus Veil," Ikreaba answered

"Looks like they did, those were definitely geth." Vrunum confirmed, "We have to get moving, we'll see that Jenkins gets a proper funeral after the mission, for now, we need to focus."

The three Marines continued advancing encountering a few more drones then they came to a small cliff, below a soldier was pinned down by two geth. Vrunum switched to his sniper rifle signaling for Ikreaba to take out the farther one as he took aim at the closer one then they simultaneously eliminated the geth. Vrunum walked down to the soldier and asked "You alright soldier?"

"Yes sir, Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212th." The soldier replied, "You in charge here sir."

"Yes, Captain Vrunum of the Normandy. This is Commander Ikreaba Shepherd and Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko."

"Where's the rest of your unit Williams?" Ikreaba asked

"Dead Ma'am, I'm the only one left," Ashley replied

"Are you fit to fight Williams?" Vrunum asked

"Yes, sir." She replies

"We can use all the help we can get. If you come with us, it would be appreciated." Vrunum requested

"Gladly, time for some payback" Ashley replied vengefully

"Let's move," Vrunum commanded

The group continued down the path toward the dig site. They encountered a few geth but nothing a group of four Marines couldn't handle. They came to a circular structure that they presumed to be the dig site, but nothing was there.

"This is the dig site but…" Ashley confirmed

"Somebody must have moved the beacon." Kaidan pointed out

"But who? Our people, or the Geth?" Ikreaba wondered aloud

"I would assume our people, the Geth here were searching for something. Any idea where they might have taken it?" Vrunum inquired

"Not really, but their research camp is up on the hill over there," Ash responded indicating the ramp to the side of the dig site

"Let's check it out," Vrunum ordered

The group advanced up the ramp in a diamond formation with Vrunum in the lead and Ikreaba bringing up the rear. When they were about to crest the hill, they saw three bodies on metal spikes, so Vrunum signaled for the group to stop. "I am reading vital signs from those corpses, Ikreaba, you take care of the one on the left, I will take out the middle, and Williams you take out the right," he whispered

"What? We're going to desecrate our own dead? No way." Ashley objected

"They're not dead Williams, and for all we know, the geth have kept them just alive enough for us to lower our guard then they will kill us," Ikreaba explained

"Fine, I still don't like it, but I see your point." Ashley conceded

"Take aim. Three, two, one, fire." Vrunum ordered, and three simultaneous sniper rifle shots went off. Two of the husks went limp, but the one on the right stayed stiff until the spike lowered and it began to charge. Before any of the others could act Kaidan lifted the husk into the air with biotics. When he did Vrunum quickly switched to his HMWA and poured a volley into the husk.

"Wha-What did the Geth do to them?" Ashley asked in shock

"It appears that they replaced their nervous system with electronics. They weren't human anymore, just hollowed-out husks." Vrunum said after analyzing the corpse

"Normandy ground team do you read me?" Nihlus said over the commlink in a panicked voice

"We read you Nihlus, what's wrong?" Vrunum replied

"I am at the spaceport, and *static* has me pinned down, he's turned traitor, I need immediate assistance," Nihlus responded

"We didn't hear you, who has you pinned?" Vrunum asked as he and the rest of the team started running for the spaceport

"*static*ren*static*. He has a group of geth with him," Nihlus answered

"We're on our way, hold on!" Vrunum assured, but there was no answer "Nihlus, do you read me?" silence "Nihlus!" When they reached the top of the hill, they saw the turian SPECTRE in a fierce firefight surrounded by Geth. In addition to about 12 of the common gray Geth units which they had already face there were four larger red Geth platforms. Vrunum indicated for Ashley and Kaidan to move up and engage the enemies with biotics and assault rifle as he and Ikreaba took aim with their sniper rifles picking the Geth off one by one until none remained. Making sure the coast was clear they started to move up to meat Nihlus but as they reached the spaceport platform where the turian was standing a Geth unit appeared behind the SPECTRE. Before anyone could do anything, the Geth fired a massive shotgun blast into Nihlus' back causing his chest to explode in a fountain of blue. Vrunum drew his pistol and fired a dozen shots into the robot's chassis. The SPECTRE was dead before he hit the ground.

"Show yourself!" Ikreaba yelled in the direction of a stack of boxes then a man slowly stepped out from behind them. "Who are you?"

"I'm just a dock worker, don't shoot." The man replied

"Why were you back there?" Vrunum demanded

"I was hiding, but I saw what happened. Your friend there got here first then a few minutes later another turian, I think your friend called him Saren Arterius, showed up and your friend relaxed slightly but he was suspicious still and asked Saren what he was doing here. Saren said that the Council had assigned a second SPECTRE to monitor one of the Shepherds, but your friend said he didn't believe him. That's when Saren pulled out his gun. Your friend dove for cover and called for backup and Saren called in those robots and ran away. That's when you guys got here." The dock worker explained

"Have you seen where the beacon went?" Ikreaba asked

"The weird thing the scientists dug up? Yeah, they sent it down the tram line." The worker answered

"No time to lose, move out!" Vrunum ordered

The squad quickly made their way to the tram meeting no Geth resistance along the way. When the tram reached the end of the line, Vrunum identified demolition charges which he quickly disarmed while Ikreaba picked off the Geth defenders. Once the charges were disarmed the group moved on to the platform which the beacon was on. The beacon appeared to be emanating a green mist. As Vrunum called for extraction Ikreaba went to examine the beacon when she was caught in some kind of field lifting her off the ground. Vrunum ran over to pull his sister out of the field only to be caught in it himself. A vision of sorts burned itself into both twins' minds. A vision of death and destruction, of extermination.

When the pair came to, they were in the med bay on the Normandy. "Doc, they're awake," Kaidan announced

"You two gave us quite the scare there. What happened? Kaidan said when you got close to the beacon you were lifted into the air then collapsed." Doctor Chakwas

Ikreaba spoke up first. "I had a vision."

"A dream? What of?" the doctor asked

"Not a dream, it was too, real. A vision of death. I'd almost say it was a premonition or a warning."

"But that's ridiculous! There is absolutely no evidence that precognition is even possible." Doctor Chakwas objected

"Ikreaba, what exactly did you see?" Vrunum asked

"I think it was a mass extinction, or rather an extermination." She went on to describe every little detail of the vision.

"We had the exact same vision. I believe that it was induced by the beacon. Speaking of which, where is the beacon?" Vrunum asked

"We think that interacting with two people at the same time must have overloaded it. When the two of you collapsed, the beacon exploded. Luckily neither of you were hit by shrapnel." Anderson explained as he entered the med-bay. "How are they Doc?"

"If I didn't know better I'd say they were just sleeping the last two days. They are completely normal, though they both report had identical dreams which the commander insists were visions." Doctor Chakwas reported

"May I have a minute alone with them?" Anderson requested

"Of course, I need to have some lunch anyway." Doctor Chakwas said

"I'll go check on Williams, She's taken the loss of her squad pretty hard," Kaidan commented

When the two had left, Anderson began to speak. "We're almost to the citadel, the Council will want to know how their agent ended up dead on what was supposed to be a simple delivery run."

"It wasn't our fault, Sir. From what we can gather he was betrayed by another turian SPECTRE named Saren."

"Damn, I hoped I had heard the last of that name. Saren Arterius. He hates humans, thinks we feel entitled, hates how quickly we are advancing in the galactic community." Anderson commented

"We have to tell the Council he has gone rogue then they can strip him of his authority." Ikreaba pointed out

"I doubt anything will be done, but you're right. We have to try." Anderson said determinedly

When the Normandy docked with the Citadel, the admiral brought everyone who had been on the ground on Eden Prime with him to the office of the human ambassador, Donnell Udina. The man spoke or rather yelled, in slightly accented English. "What the hell happened down there? The Council is furious that one of their agents got killed on what was supposed to be a routine delivery mission! On top of that, you failed to even complete the simple task of securing the beacon!"

"We ran into unforeseen resistance," Vrunum said clearly mocking politician wording

Udina grimaced at the vague phrasing of the captain's wording "What do you mean unforeseen resistance?"

"He means that the colony was attacked by Geth under the command of Saren Arterius while we were retrieving the beacon," Ikreaba explained.

"What? But that's impossible! The Geth haven't been seen outside the Perseus Veil in hundreds of years." The ambassador retorted.

"Until today. Don't forget the turian SPECTRE leading them," Vrunum corrected

"Even if I do take this to the Council, why would they believe a squad of Alliance marines who just botched a major mission over one of their own operative?" Udina questioned

"Because we have an independent witness and we have a good reputation, also Saren's reputation for hating humans" Ikreaba suggested

"It's not much to go on, but it will have to be enough. As long as Saren is at large every human colony is in peril," Anderson insisted

"Fine, but don't blame me when this all blows up in your faces. The Council wants to meet with you any way to find out how you failed so miserably on what should have been a milk run." Udina responded

"You four enjoy the presidium, I'll call you when it is time for the hearing. You know where the Citadel tower is?" Anderson asked

"Yes, we do," Vrunum answered, "Should we wear our dress uniforms, or will our armor be enough?"

"Armor is fine as long as it is clean, though dress blues wouldn't hurt," Udina responded

With that Ashley and Kaidan headed back to the Normandy while Ikreaba and Vrunum headed to their shared apartment on the Presidium to start polishing their shoes and any metal pieces on their dress uniforms as well as pressing their shirts and pants. While the Ambassador had said that clean armor would be fine, they all knew that they were expected to wear their dress uniforms.

The apartment wasn't huge by any standard, just an average two bedroom one bathroom flat around 750 square feet, but it was enough. If the twins had wanted to, they could have lived in a much larger, nicer apartment or even separate apartments, but they were content with what they had. They came from a very old, very wealthy family. They each had a few billion credits to their name but they never flaunted it or asked for any special treatment. The inside of the apartment was not opulently adorned with silks and gold statues, but rather elegantly decorated with family pictures and mounted awards like you might find in any home. The one expensive item in the whole apartment was a solid maple dining table that had been in their family for twenty generations.

"So," Ikreaba started, "what do you think that the chances are that the Council will believe us?"

"Honestly, practically none. It is our word against his. But as Anderson said, we have to try," Vrunum admitted.

"So, what do we do if we fail?" Ikreaba asked.

"We try to gather more evidence." Vrunum replied

"And if we can't find anything?"

"We may have to call _him_," Vrunum answered

"But I hate talking to him, ever since that one time he makes every conversation weird," Ikreaba protested

"I can talk to him but he always responds better to you, Vrunum advised.

"Fine, but only as a last resort," Ikreaba relented.

"You have to make up with him eventually, you can't avoid him forever," Vrunum said

"I can try," Ikreaba responded

"Ikreaba," Vrunum chastised. Just then the pair's omni-tools Dinged indicating a message had been received; it was Anderson, the Council was ready for them.

"Well then, let's not keep them waiting," Ikreaba said relieved to have the something to distract her brother.

"This isn't over Ikreaba Kan'draak," Vrunum replied

"Who are you, my Dad?" Ikreaba joked

"You know he agrees with me too." Vrunum answered

"It sure would be nice to ask him," Ikreaba said. "He'd probably know exactly what to do in a situation like this, Mom wouldn't even have to think about it and she'd have a plan to deal with it and a backup for every contingency."

"Definitely," Vrunum Chuckled. "Well, let's get going, the sooner we get told the Council won't do anything without more evidence, the sooner we can start our own investigation."

The trip to the Citadel Tower was uneventful, the Shepherds met up with Kaidan and Ashley at the base of the tower and rode the elevator up together. When they got to the top they saw two Turians arguing

"I need more time, stall them for a while,"

"Give it up Garrus, it's over, the Council has made their decision."

"Saren's dangerous, mark my words, whatever damage he does will be on your head," Garrus warned as the other was walking away.

Garrus turned and approached the group of humans "Captain and Commander Shepherd, Garrus Vakarian, I was the C-sec officer assigned to investigate Saren but the damned bureaucrats won't let me do my job. Saren is a SPECTRE so almost everything he says or does is classified, that makes it impossible to build a case against him."

"I'm sure you did the best you could, the _esteemed members of the Council_ made their decision the moment the charges were laid," Vrunum said with obvious disgust

"Good luck, Shepherds, maybe they'll listen to you."

"Hey, meet me at flux in an hour. It we win it's to celebrate, if we lose it's to figure out how to nail that bastard," Ikreaba said other intentions clear in her voice.

"Fine by me, I guess," the turian responded innocently.

Once Garrus had left Ashley spoke up "Seriously commander? A Turian?"

"You have a problem with that Gunnery Chief? He's a handsome example of his species, we seem to have similar goals, and he certainly doesn't mind standing up to his superiors when he feels something is wrong, all qualities I look for in a partner."

"But he's an alien and let's not forget, literally toxic to you!" Williams countered

"No dextros are not toxic to levos, nor the other way around. The worst that could happen is a bad allergic reaction. That's why you keep both types of Epinephrine on hand, same for eating meals together, if you eat dextro food repeatedly, you stop having any reaction to it. Turian chocolate is quite delicious but quite different from human chocolate." Ikreaba corrected

"Still, he's not human, it's not natural." Ashley said in disgust

"I didn't know my personal life was your business Williams," Ikreaba snapped

"Enough! Both of you. The Council's waiting for us, shape up and act like soldiers. Fight on your own time, in those uniforms you represent the Alliance." Vrunum ordered

With that the group continued on to the podium where Udina was speaking to the Council.

"I'm sorry, while the geth attacking a human colony is an alarming development, there is not sufficient evidence of Saren's involvement for him to be stripped of his SPECTRE status. His record shows him to be un-empathetic and ruthless at times, but not an outright murderer, much less capable of slaughtering an entire colony of innocent civilians." The Asari Councilor explained apologetically

"Five eyewitness testimonies, two of which come from highly decorated alliance heroes? What more proof do you want? Video?" Udina yelled

"Any type of verifiable evidence would be acceptable, especially a video or an audio clip which we could get a voiceprint off of," the turian councilor explained.

"So, you'll do nothing as one of your own agents slaughters human colonies?" Udina yelled

"I was under the impression that humans understood the concept of innocent until proven guilty in a fair trial," Saren scoffed. "These charges are insulting, Nihlus was a fellow SPECTRE and a good friend."

"I don't know why you betrayed your friend but I saw it with my own eyes. You tried to shoot him in the back and when that failed you sicced your geth on him," Vrunum said with obvious disgust in his voice.

"This entire hearing is insulting, cut connection," Saren said and his image disappeared.

"This meeting of the council is adjourned," the Asari councilor said.

The group of humans went to the bottom of the stairs. "There's only one thing Saren could be planning with a geth army, the extinction of humanity." Anderson said

"I'm not so sure, he was killing humans, but more because they were in the way, like an added bonus to him. His objective was the prothean beacon," Vrunum said

"Whatever his plan, he has to be stopped," Kaidan said

"I'll talk to some old friends, see if they have anything on him," Vrunum said

"I'll go meet up with Garrus at flux, he seemed like he was on to something," Ikreaba said

"I have heard rumors Barla Von is an agent of the Shadow Broker. Perhaps somebody should see if he has any information on this," Anderson suggested.

"Williams and I can do that," Alenko volunteered.

"Are you sure about that LT? What if either of those two need backup up?" Williams pointed out.

"Gunnery Chief, I'm pretty sure the heroes of the Blitz can handle themselves." Kaidan said

"I guess, but I still don't like it," Ashley conceded

"In case anyone finds anything or gets into trouble tune your communicators to channel 880451 and use alliance encryption protocol November Oscar Mike 06109," Vrunum instructed.

"Sir, Williams and I don't have authorization to use November encryption protocols," Alenko objected

"I'm authorizing it, these are exceptional circumstances. If a SPECTRE has turned it's likely he has friends on the citadel that would be all too willing and able to use the standard encryption protocols that the alliance shared with the council to listen in on us. We kept our November protocols secret so our special forces could operate in council space should the worst happen and we have to go to war with the Citadel," Ikreaba cut in as she punched in information to her Omni-tool allowing the two to access the restricted functions on their own Omni-tools.

"Test 1 2 test 1 2, everyone hear me?" Vrunum asked and everyone answered in the affirmative. "Good, keep the chatter low, our communications are encrypted but I don't want to test their ability to crack that encryption. Meet back here at 18:00 hours."

"Roger that," Ashley replied

"Solid copy Captain," Kaiden replied

"Roger roger," Ikreaba said Vrunum shook his head and the group went their separate ways.


End file.
